Old video of South Georgia manager Wally Backman yelling at reporter

Sometimes walking the Mets Police beat I run into a few things I’d rather not have found. Â Over the winder there was Marital Scandal With 69 Mets Player that I let go, and even some of the Dykstra stuff I just don’t want to get into.

This one I will share because it’s justÂ interesting. I too have been known to say “are you #@*ing kidding me?” at work – and did quite a few times this past week, so I’m not saying this should reflect negatively on Wally as he seeks his destiny as manager of the New York Mets.

However, I think you’ll find it interesting. Â Not shocking, just worth watching.

I saw that episode of Playing for Peanuts when they were showing the series on SNY. In Backman’s defense, that particular game was a cluster you-know-what, and the Anderson franchise looked incompetent in their handling of everything from beginning to end (Backman’s reference to the grounds crew not being able to put the tarp on the field was just one incident that day).

Honestly, the fit Backman threw that got him ejected in the first place–it was Pinella-level meltdown–was worse than him speaking his mind to the announcer.

As a former minor league announcer, I can add a few tidbits. Nearly all the broadcasters are hired by the team, and therefore often the manager thinks that the announcer “owes” the team something and shouldn’t say anything awful. If the team was crap that’s one thing, but the radio and TV broadcasts are vehicles to get people to come out in the mind of the team. I once said that there was the threat of rain in the air and the GM read me the riot act because she said “People who were thinking of coming out to the game won’t come now.” My response was that there really WAS the threat of rain and that I call the game as it evolves. If that rain later in the game causes a player to slip then you’d gripe to the umpire about why he didn’t pull the teams off the field.”

The same thing happens in the show. Remember Red Barber got fired by the Yankees for showing the empty stands.

Now in Backman’s defense, that was a fairly measured response. I’ve seen far worse, especially from the likes of Lou Pinella.